


Burnt

by Twentysomethingloser92



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Other, Past Abuse, Smut, Soulmates, Spyfall Part 1, Time Travel, bonded
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:54:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22299658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twentysomethingloser92/pseuds/Twentysomethingloser92
Summary: Just because you were The Master's soulmate doesn't mean you have to like him.
Relationships: Missy/Reader, The Master (Dhawan)/Reader, The Master (Simm)/ Reader, The Master/Reader
Comments: 34
Kudos: 203





	1. Prologue

Being told that you were the soulmate to one of the most dangerous beings in the universe wasn't really what you expected it to be. 

It was pain and heartbreak. It was pain knowing that they could be so much more. You've seen it in their eyes, you've felt it in the way they tenderly caressed your face, but it was heartbreak in the way they chose not to change. 

It started what seemed like a whole different lifetime ago. Back when it was just you, The brown haired man you knew as The Doctor and Martha Jones. There was a constant ache in your head and an itch that ran through your body that you just couldn't scratch. It had been there for just over a year and it had medical experts baffled. 

It wasn't until Harold Saxon, The Valiant, and the appropriately named 'Year that Never Was', did you find out what was really going on.  
You saw the madness in his eyes when they first laid eyes on you, the way his face lit up with glee as if he had spent his whole life waiting for you. 

You were told that a Soulmate bond was such a strange concept, a rare concept, and for two completely different species to be bonded was almost unheard of. The Doctor looked at you like you were a science experiment. 

The Master didn't hurt you. 

Not physically anyway. 

His touches towards you were tender, as if he was going to break you. Around him, you felt like your whole being was being broken down to be remade in such a blissful way. His was assertive with you, but not in a way which you feared. He was kind to you in a way he never was towards anyone else.

It wasn't in the way he touched you, never sexually. Maybe it was the subtle things, the way he always smiled at you, made sure to assert his dominance around others that you were his and no one else's. 

Not Ever. 

You despised him, you despised his actions. 

He made you watch as he beat Lucy- the woman he called his wife-, he made you watch as he tortured Jack- leaving him in shackles only to die over and over again-, and Martha's parents.  
He made you stand at the window and watch as he decimated whole countries.

"This world will be your empire," He whispered in your ear, his hands on your bare shoulders, "I promise you that,". 

Afterwards, as he lay dying in The Doctor's arms, you couldn't help the tear that fell down your cheek. It felt as if there was a hole slowly growing in your chest. You decided later that you weren't sad The Master had passed, you were sad for The Doctor. You were sad for what little of home he was losing. 

As the years went on, you had met The Master another 4 times. 

*"Get out of the way" The Master pushed you aside, you could see the anger in his eyes as he stepped towards the Time Lord President. His eyes met yours for a moment, "I'm doing this for you only," He stated simply before turning his eyes forward, a bolt of lightening hurling from the gauntlet on his hand, "YOU DID THIS TO ME! ALL OF MY LIFE! YOU MADE ME! ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!"*

*()*

*"How long do I have?" 

You looked over at the previous incarnation of The Master, his hand holding his side, blood slowly trickling through his fingers. His eyes met yours for a moment, glaring as a small smirk touched your lips.  
"Oh, I was precise. You'll be able to make it back to your TARDIS, maybe even get a cuppa. Although, you might leak a little," Missy explained, putting him into the elevator in the middle of the forrest and making her way back to you.

"And then, regenerate... into you" The Master snarled, disdain lacing his voice.

You watched the scene in front of you, blood falling from a laceration on your cheek, your shoes scuffed and dirty; you were tired, so beyond tired, but you knew that Missy needed you. She went behind her own previous regenerations version to help you. She went against everything she knew to prove that she did love you.  
"Oh... because he's right. Because it's time to stand with him. It's time to stand with her," Missy nodded her head towards you, "She's our soulmate and she's everything good in this universe. We love her. It's where we've always been going, and it's happening, now, today. It's time to stand with the Doctor," Missy laced her fingers through your own and pulled you towards back towards the treeline, towards the battle field and the Cybermen, her eyes never glancing away form the exit in front of you both, but you could see the smile on her painted lips. 

"No. Never. MISSY! I will never stand with the Doctor!" You could hear The Master shout from behind you.  
You spun around just in time to watch The Master shoot Missy with his sonic screwdriver, a sense of glee crossed his face as your shouted out her name and ran towards her, tears falling down your face as you fell to your knees beside her. 

"Don't bother trying to regenerate. You got the full blast. You see, Missy, this is where we've always been going. This is our perfect ending. We shoot ourselves in the back," The Master stated simply, laughter echoing throughout the area. 

Missy let out a long laugh as she looked at your tear stained face, you gripped her hand, trying to reassure her that it was okay, that you were there and you weren't leaving her. 

All around you, you could hear the mixed sounds of both their laughter, male and female, while you softly pleaded for her to try and regenerate. For her to come back to you. 

Until the final breath left her lips.* 

That was what lead you up to now, standing in the middle of an empty plane looking at the dark-skinned man. A large grin crossing his face as he stared at you. It was almost a manic type glee on his face, the same type of look he had on his face when he first saw you all those years ago. 

How did you not notice this earlier? All the signs were there. The itchiness, O's reluctance to touch you but at the same time, needing to be as close as possible to you, the headaches, the comfort you found in his presence. 

But it had been such a long time since you had been in The Master's presence that you almost forgot what being in it felt like. You had finished mourning the woman who had died and you thought that it would be the end of it. 

But clearly it wasn't. 

Not now, not when you were standing face to face with the villainous Time Lord. 

"And finally the human. My soulmate. I've waited a long time to finally meet you," He stepped closer to you, making you take a step back, "I've waited eons to meet you. And now I finally have you," His eyes narrowed slightly, "But this isn't your first time meeting me, is it?"

"I've met you plenty of times before," You commented, "Shame about the circumstances," You looked behind you at The Doctor who was still looking at The Master in shock.  
"But there was an O at MI6. C was talking about him," Ryan stated simply, moving out from the aisle of seats, stepping closer to Yaz.

The Master gave a small chuckle, "Yeah. A man very close to my heart.," He paused for a moment and reached into his breast pocket, "Well, in my pocket, actually. Do you want to see him? It's always good to keep a backup of one's work. Tissue compression, it's a classic. Oh," 

He smiled as he showed the little tiny humanoid figure in the matchbox. You opened your mouth in shock, stepping forward. You felt The Doctor's hand on your shoulder, keeping you close to her. 

"Ambushed him on his way to work for his first day. Shrunk him, took his identity and set myself up in MI6. Surprisingly good staff canteen," The Master turned to you as he threw the matchbox to the side, "I have had a lot of fun," He smiled, bouncing slightly and clapping his hands together like a child. 

You shook your head, taking a slight step back, "You absolute sick son of a b-" You were cut off by The Doctor's voice.  
"I need to warn Barton!" She yelled before turning to you, "Stay here and keep an eye on him," She pointed over to The Master before turning on her heel and moving back towards the cockpit, "What? He's not here," She yelled, quickly moving back towards you. 

Graham, Ryan and Yaz rushed towards The Doctor, pushing past you and pushing The Master into a seat. You stood beside him, momentarily blocking him in. Your headache was getting worse, making you press the heels of your palms into your eyes and rub them. 

A small chuckle came from beside you, "Headaches?" You looked over at the offending voice, "Oh, I've had headaches for months now. You know, you could solve all our problems if you would just grab my hand. The bond between us will be sealed and it wont hurt anymore" The Master raised his hand, waving his fingers at you. 

"Over my dead body," You said simply, moving towards the others. 

You watched nervously as The Doctor tried, and ultimately failed, to defuse the bomb sitting in the cockpit. You turned behind you to see The Master standing there, smirking at what he thought was his victory. 

"Where's Barton?" Yaz asked him, moving to stand next to you. 

"Called away before takeoff. By me! Stick with me, Yaz, cos I control... everything. Even these guys" The Master whistled and clicked his fingers turning around and grinning at the sight before him. 

Molding form the aircraft around you, two light figures came to stand in front of you. Your chest clenched painfully before turning back to The Master, "This plane crashes, we all die. Including me," You stated as if that would make him stop. 

The Master laughed, "Yes!" He narrowed his eyes for a moment, "Wait, no. I already have plans for you," He forcefully grabbed your hand and pulled you towards him, making you shout in pain. You could see the wincing on his own face as the bond snapped into place. 

It was like fire and ice rushed through your veins and burned your head. It was like drowning and dying over and over again. The pain made you fall to your knees and clutch your head, The Master just looked down at you, watching with a smirk as the bond began to work. 

You could feel pain. The same pain you felt from the Valiant when your bond was first established, but it was so much more painful, so much more embedded. You felt like you were suffocating. Time seemed to slow down as you were pulled up to your feet by The Master, his hand keeping a painful grip on your upper arm. You tried to struggle against him but you felt weak, like it was taking all your energy just to keep yourself from succumbing to the pain in your mind.  
"Got you, finally," You heard whispered beside you as you were pulled from the crashing aircraft.


	2. Adventures of Time and Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You learn a little more about your soulmate.

You landed with a thud on the, seemingly, dirt ground. Your heart was pounding in your ears as you rolled over on to your hands and knees, pushing yourself off the ground and trying to catch your breath. It felt like your whole body was pulled through a vacuum, twisting and pushing at your insides. You glanced over at the Time-Lord, noticing that he had regained his composure moderately faster than you had.

You pushed yourself to your feet and looked around; the sky above you was a glowing midnight blue and purple, the stars and three full moons lit up your surroundings, allowing you to see that you were in what looked like a wasteland. Mountains upon mountains of dirt and rubbish were piled up until they almost reached the sky.

Feeling his presence beside you, you turned your body to face him, moving your hands to start hitting him, “What the hell did you do?” You yelled, pushing him back until he tripped and landed on his back. You stood over him, your feet on either side of his waist and your hands on your hips, “Where are we?” You asked.

The Master raised his hands in surrender, his eyes slightly wide and a grin on his face, “If you’ve already met me than you know that I wouldn’t take you somewhere you would be in danger,” You nudged him with your foot and moved away from him, looking around you.

“My TARDIS is here. Somewhere. I just have to find her,” The Master stated simply, brushing the dirt off his black suit jacket and coming to stand once again beside you, “Let’s check over there,” He said, pointing over to a somewhat identical rubbish pile than all the rest.

You crossed your arms over your chest, blocking out the slight chill that had come over your body. You begrugedly followed behind the suited man, occasionally kicking up the dirt and looking at your surroundings.

“So when we find the TARDIS, we’re going back to Earth yeah?” You called out, pulling your jacket further around your body as goosebumps rose on your skin.

The Master swore lightly to himself and shook off his jacket, leaving him in his white dress shirt and bow tie. He turned around and walked back over to you, handing it out to you as if it was physically paining it to do so, “Here” He grumbled.

You rose an eyebrow, “What?”

He gave a sigh of annoyance, “Put this on. You’re cold. I can feel it and it’s annoying me,” 

You snatched it out of his hand, not even bothering to mutter a thank you, and slid it on. It smelled of cheap aftershave and a distinct musty scent that seemed to carry through his regeneration’s. You looked up at him and saw his eyes darken slightly before he turned back around, shaking his head and quickly moving away from you, “And to answer your previous question,” He called back to you, “No. We’re not going back to Earth,”

“Wait, what? Nuh uh,” You jogged lightly to catch up to him, “No way. I am not staying here on this god forsaken wasteland for all eternity with you,” You stated simply, looking over at him.

The Master laughed, “Well isn’t it lucky that we’re not staying on this planet. We’re finding the TARDIS and getting out of this galaxy. I have some unfinished business,” He said, his voice taking on a darker tone.

You could feel his mood change through the bond, as if he had been kicked in the stomach. His anger and sadness was seeping to the surface and you could feel him try to keep it down, however his face remained completely neutral.

“Great. Well while you do that unfinished business, could you swing by Earth and drop me off? Much appreciated,” You commented lightly, trying to move the conversation away from whatever thoughts were surrounding his mind.

A growl erupted from his throat before he began stomping his feet, “No, no, no!” He yelled, making you take a step back, “Why can’t you just stay with me? We’re soulmates, we’re stronger together,” He stepped closer to you, grabbing your hand and stopping you from moving further away from him, “Can’t you feel it? Through the bond? In our minds?,” He stopped for a moment, letting go of your hand and moving away, placing his fingers on each side of his temple, “I’ve never seen anything this clear before. It’s like I can see new realities, new versions of the universe,” He stopped and turned to you, quickly rushing over and placing his fingers on either side of your face, “Can’t you see it? Look, look, look,” He closed his eyes and placed his forehead against your own.

You let out a gasp of surprise and tried to step back, but The Master’s hands kept you in place. Flashes of a small child looking into a hole in a universe, the steady thump of two heartbeats, a madness that was only soothed by the mere thought of you, a man standing on the edge of the Time War watching as his planet was destroyed with tears falling down his cheeks before he turns and runs away.  
The everlasting loneliness that came from the depths of his soul.

The Master jumped back, his eyes looking over every bit of you, “How did you do that?” He accused, pointing a finger in your direction.

“Do what?” You asked, confusion lacing your voice.

“Whatever it was you just did. You didn’t see what I wanted to show you, you saw…you saw,” His voice drifted off and he started breathing heavily, as if he had just ran a marathon.

You cautiously took a step forward, “Who was that boy?”

His eyes slowly rose to look at you and it was as if you were facing a complete stranger. You had never seen that amount of vulnerability on The Master’s face before, no matter what incarnation it was.  
Before you could mention it, he had turned around, storming off towards where he presumed the TARDIS would be.

“Are you sure the TARDIS is this way?” You called out, placing your hands in the jacket pockets and quickly chasing after him.

A loud scoff came from in front of you and the Time Lord came to a standstill, he waited for you to catch up before glancing around you, “I’m positive,” He reassured.

You nodded to yourself, “How did it get out here anyway?” You kicked a broken can and watched as it bounced away.

“I sent it here so The Doctor couldn’t find it,” He explained, grabbing your hand and pulling you forward so you could keep up with him.

The pair of you continued to weave in and out of smaller piles of rubbish before you came face to face with the familiar run-down outback house.

“You’re kidding me? I thought it would have been a bit more inconspicuous,” You laughed as you followed The Master up to the front door.

He turned to face you, “You flew through time and space in a blue police box. Don’t discuss inconspicuous with me. Plus, I thought this place would have fit in perfectly here,” He pushed open the front door and waited patiently for you to enter before closing it again.

“Cuppa?” He smirked as you rolled your eyes at him before begrudgingly accepting the offer.

It was as if the mood between the two of you changed.

As soon as you had both stepped inside the TARDIS, the events of the Wasteland weren’t spoken of again. There was no mention of the childlike tantrum he threw, and there was no mention of what you saw inside his mind. There were moments, however, when he would stop everything he was doing and tap out a simple beat.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

It was the same beat you heard in his head, the same beat you had heard The Master tap out on the Valiant. It would freeze him in place and a look of loss would cross over his face. An overwhelming sadness would overcome your body and you didn’t know if it came from you or from him. Every part of your body wanted, no needed, to go over and comfort him. To hold his hand and let him know that he wasn’t alone.

But you stayed seated on the worn couch, picking at the hole which showed the insides of the cushion. Needing to do something which stimulated your hands and kept them from reaching out to him.

The console room was a sunset orange. A color, he says, stimulates the mind. If you were completely honest you think he was trying to make the TARDIS seem less intimidating for you, less unwelcoming.

“Master,” You spoke up form your seat, watching as he danced around the console. Flicking switches and mumbling to himself as he did so. His eyes moved to where you were now standing, making your way over to him and leaning your hip against the cold glass, “I need-” You swallowed the lump in your throat, “I need to go home. I need to make sure my friends are safe,”

The Master’s eyes roamed over at you, you could see his jaw twitch and the anger swell in the bond, “Text them. Call them. You have a mobile,” He moved away from you, returning to what he was previously doing.

You shook your head, “Who were those creatures you were working with? Why?” You continued to follow him around the console, noticing that he was trying to ignore your questions, “Master?!”

“What? Why can’t you just be happy here? With me? Is it because I’m not your precious Doctor?” He began to stalk closer to you, forcing you to move backwards. Like an animal stalking their prey, “Is it because I don’t fit your definition of good? You want to know why I’ve done the things I’ve done? For who I’ve done them for?” He forced you into the couch, “Everything I have ever done, was because of you. I’ve toppled worlds and burned millions to try and find you,” His voice became dangerously low, “I’ve never wanted anything in this universe but you,”

You pushed yourself up to try and meet his eyes, to show that his idea of intimidation wasn’t working on you. You became close to his face, you could see every imperfection on his skin, how his eyes had tiny flecks of gold in them. You could feel the burning heat through the bond but you ignored it, “You murdered people. You tried to murder my friends. How can you say any of that was for me?”

The Master swallowed deeply and, for a moment, you saw a flash of sadness cross his face before pushing himself up and taking a step back from you, “Well then, it’s lucky we’re going to have a long time together to figure that out isn’t it?” He snarled before moving back to the console and flicking another switch before storming off up the stairs and into the corridors.

Leaving you to let out the deep breath you were holding.


	3. Fine Line Between Love And Hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The TARDIS shows you something new.

When you first started travelling with The Doctor all those years ago, it was a flurry of adventure and adrenaline. You realized that traveling through time and space was a beautiful and rare opportunity and you never wanted to leave the little blue box.

You saved whole worlds and traveled back and forth into the future and the past, only to be home by dinner time. It was a luxury that once you had chosen to leave the TARDIS, you missed dearly.

It was after travelling through space, you realized that maybe you weren’t meant to live a stationary life on Earth. You felt as though you never really connected with anyone you spoke too anymore. After all, shared life experience was hard to come by.   
You were always looking for new adventures, itching to get away. Not even your work with Torchwood helped. 

Nowadays, however, you spending your days in The Master’s TARDIS felt different then what it did when you were with The Doctor. There weren’t adventures, in fact; you had barely even seen The Master except for those few and in between times when you would be in the kitchen and he would saunter in, dark rings around his eyes, grab what he needed and stormed out, not even acknowledging you.

The TARDIS was another thing that was different. It never made you feel accepted, it made you feel like you were a burden the way it’s owner did.   
You had no idea why they wouldn’t just take you back to Earth if they felt this way.

You would speak to it, your soft voice telling it about your day and your feelings towards it’s Time Lord pilot. It never replied, not in the friendly way The Doctor’s TARDIS would. It wouldn’t light up or make sounds letting you know that it was acknowledging you.

Not at first anyway.

It wasn’t until weeks later, weeks of exploring, avoiding, and hiding away from it’s Time Lord owner; did you finally get a response from the machine.

You were lost. You had found yourself walking through a door that you never even realized was there, a door in the corner of your eye that you had never bothered about before. It lead you through dozens of corridors, past hundreds of doors. You could hear the humming of the TARDIS, like it was pleased that you were coming this way. It was a warmth of acceptance you hadn’t felt up until that moment.

That was until you came to a solid wall with a single oak door to your right.

Your hands pressed on it, wondering why the machine would lead you here. Hands hovering over the gold doorknob. Your brain told you to turn away, to walk away and put this room behind you. It was almost like it was warning you.

But your body told you to do it, your hairs standing up, a warmth flooding through your body. Inside the pit of your stomach, you could feel an ice cold rage that you knew was coming from The Master, but you couldn’t turn around to go find him, your feet were planted to the floor.

Swallowing the lump in your throat, your hand reached down to the doorknob and twisted it open. You pushed open the heavy door and stepped inside.

It was dark, nothing but a small golden lamp illuminating a corner of the large room. You saw bookshelves filled with artifacts, filled with books and paper. The dusty room was clearly in chaos. It was messy, an unkind feeling to it.

“What are you doing here?” You heard coming form where the light was shining.

You looked up to see The Master sitting on the edge of the bed, his head bowed as if he was deep in thought. He wasn’t looking up at you, his eyes never moved away from the sewn rug on the wooden floor; but he still knew you were there.

“I don’t know,” You answered simply.

He suddenly stood up, quickly walking over to you and gripping his hand around your throat, pushing you towards the far wall until your back hit it, making you grunt at the impact; “This corridor, this room, has a perception filter around it so you couldn’t find it. So how did you find it?” He snarled, moving his face closer to yours.

“Your-” You shifted under his gaze, “Your TARDIS led me here,”

He shook his head, “Wrong answer,” He replied, his hand gripping harder on your throat.

You gasped for breath for a moment, wondering if he really was going to kill you, “I swear to you. I’m not lying. Do you think I want to be here?”

His hand detached from your throat as if he had been burned. You raised your own hand to rub your neck, eyeing him cautiously. He moved away from you, going back to occupy the space on the bed he had left.

You watched as he ran his hands through his hair like he was distressed.

You slowly walked over to him, as if he was a caged animal, and crouched down in front of him, “What’s wrong?” You whispered.

His dark eyes met yours, “Why do you even care? You don’t even want to be here,” He spat back, “You don’t even want me,”

You outwardly flinched. You don’t know why it stung when he said it like that considering you had stated just moments ago that you didn’t want to be here. Maybe it was his tone, the usually strong and so sure of himself man sounded like you were slowly tearing him to shreds by not wanting him, like you rejecting him was the worst possible outcome of his life. 

You looked down at your hands, rubbing them up and down your thighs for a moment before pulling yourself up to your full height and nodding to yourself, “Okay, fine. Whatever. If that’s how you want to be,” You made your way back the way you came, pausing at the large door.

The Master still hadn’t asked for you to stay, he didn’t even attempt to say sorry for choking you. You quickly spun around and marched back over to him, “Ugh you act like such a spoiled child!” You began, watching as he rose his head and raised a curious eyebrow at you, “In every regeneration you’re like this. You always throw tantrums if you don’t get what you want! So how about for once, you just outwardly say what you want me to do?”

You stepped back as the Master suddenly stood up, coming to stand in front of you. A part of you wanted to back away, but you firmly stood your ground.

“You want to know what’s wrong with me?” His voice became deathly low, his eyes darkening and a sense of arousal flowing through the bond, “My whole life I’ve been told how wrong I am. How I’m a disgrace to the Time Lords and I thought, that’s okay. It burned, it destroyed me. But I thought that it would be okay because there’s one person in this whole universe who would accept me and love me. I thought that person was you,” His hands hovered just above either sides of your cheeks, like he was longing to touch you. However, upon sensing your reluctance through the bond, he lowered his hands to his sides, clenching his fists a few times.

“How can I love you, when I don’t even know who you are? I don’t even know your actual name! I know nothing about you!” You cried out, throwing your hands to your side.

His jaw clenched a few times before murmuring out a “Koschei,” His voice rose slightly as he continued, “My name. My actual name. My birth name, is Koschei,”

You paused, your mouth slightly agape as you stared at the Time Lord in front of you. You know how careful The Doctor was not to give her name away, you wondered if the man in front of you was the same was. If this was some sacred thing he had just told you.  
“I-I didn’t-” You started before being abruptly cut off.

“You didn’t what? Expect me to tell you? I’ll tell you anything you want to know,”.

You could feel the desperation through the bond, the need to be accepted by you. The desperate need to be loved by you, “Mas-”

He shook his head and looked down, “I can feel it you know? The anger, the hurt that you have for me. I would almost call it hatred,” He gave a sad smile, “It’s okay. I understand,”

A tear fell down your cheek before you could stop it, a lump growing bigger and bigger in your throat. You hated the weakness you were feeling from The Master, the aching in his chest, the feelings of abandonment. You knew that you didn’t hate him, how could you hate someone who your whole life revolved around? Your entire destiny told you that you and he were meant to be together, were meant to do great things in the universe.

“I don’t-” You shook your head, “I don’t hate you. I don’t think I could ever hate you. Do I hate the things you’ve done? Yes. Absolutely. But I don’t hate you,” You whispered, “I suppose, I just need to know you,”

His head shot up to look at you, tears welling in his eyes, “What do you want to know?”

You bit your lip, “Tell me,” You swallowed deeply, your heart racing in your chest, “Tell me about that boy I saw in your mind,” You moved forward to sit next in front of him, your legs crossed on the wooden floor by his feet, his eyes still downcast.

“When Time Lords are children, we’re made to look into the time vortex through the untempered schism. It drove me mad-”


	4. The Trouble With Love Is...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One day.  
> A New Friend.  
> A New Connection.

You were so incredibly tired, the hum of the TARDIS around you relaxed you into such a state that you could feel your eyes growing heavy, your body sinking into the hard cushions of the couch. A small smile graced your face as you watched The Master sitting at the small table, piles upon piles of folders stacked upon each other in front of him. You watched as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration before he looked up and met your eyes, his body immediately relaxing and a small smile crossing his face.

“Sleep,” He said simply, “I can feel how tired you are,”

A lazy smile crossed your face as you rolled on your side, your hand tucked under your head, “We should go somewhere nice,”

He rose an eyebrow in response, “Given up on Earth have you?”

“Maybe I want to stay,” You offered, “But I’m just saying. All I really do is hang around the TARDIS and watch you brood all day,“

The Master stood up from his table, making his way over to you and crouching down in front of your face, his arms resting under his chin, “There’s a resort planet not to far from here we could go too,” He reached forward and brushed some hair from your face, “Or if you want something more adventurous we could go to the deep forests of Helmink, the grass is aquamarine,”

“What about something normal?” You offered, slowly sitting up and looking at The Master who had now placed his hands on your knees.

Somewhere between the afternoon in his bedroom and now, you had realized that he had become somewhat more affectionate with you and you allowed it.  
It would only be small touches, his hand brushing against yours or you gripping his hand tight, but it was enough to feel him relax in the bond. He showed you how grateful he was through the bond even though he would never outwardly show it.

“I know the perfect place,” He stated, a large grin growing on his face.

<->

“This is brilliant,” You said, looking around at the bustling marketplace. Different scents of food flooded your nostrils making your stomach rumble in protest. Stall holders were shouting over the chatter of customers, the ground below your feet were dusty, covering your black boots and the bottoms of your jeans. You placed your hands in your leather jacket and grinned up at The Master who was watching you, waiting for your approval, “I love markets,”

“Just stay close,” He said simply as you both walked side by side down the large pathway. You stopped and looked at stalls filled with books and jewelry, your eyes widening at the kaleidoscope coloring’s of some of the gems.

Letting out a loud laugh, you picked up a large deep red cotton-like sheet and held it up, “This is beautiful,” You swung it over your shoulders, “Do I look like an old Victorian time widow?” You smirked.

The Master gave a smile at you and reached over, grabbing it and putting it back on the table, “You look lovely,”

A loud reow came from your feet and you looked down, watching as what looked like a cream colored cat curled itself around your feet.

“Hello you,” You smiled, bending down and scratching it behind it’s ear, “Aren’t you a darling?”

A loud purr made you raise your eyebrows, not expecting a creature this small to make a sound so loud. A few patrons looked at you before turning back to whatever it was they were doing.

“What’s a cat doing on this planet?” You asked The Master who was looking at the offending creature with disgust.

“Its not a cat,” He stated simply, looking down at you patting the furry creature with disdain, “Its a Jerkinite. They’re kind of like cats, if cats could unhinged their bottom jaw like a snake and eat up to thirty times their body size,”

You smiled as the creature purred and crawled around your feet, “Aw look, it likes me,”

“Or it could be sizing you up to eat you,”

“Can we keep him? He’s a stray. Look at him he’s hungry,” You looked up at The Master who was shaking his head at your antics.

The Master rolled his eyes, “No, we have no room for a pet. Besides, that would mean you’re getting too comfortable”.

"And what’s wrong with that? I thought you wanted me to stay,” You argued back.

“Of course I want you to stay. Without a pet. Besides, we don’t have the resources on board to look after a stupid mangy animal,” He continued, turning on his heel to walk away from you and the creature.

“Sorry dude,” You murmured to the still purring creature.

You pouted and stood up to your full height, “Fine. But I’m going to sook about it the whole time,”

“Fine with me,” He called back.

You both made your way through the marketplace, “This is amazing. Thank you,” You stated, moving closer to him and lacing your hand into his own. He could feel your elation, your happiness, through the bond. It was also spread across your face, making his own smile arise.

You wrapped your arm around his and pulled yourself close, “What is that smell?” You asked, smelling a delicious sweet tang in the air.

He pulled you towards a stall where a large piece of green meat was sitting in a drum, smoke gathering around it. He began speaking to the stall holder, leaving to you look at the stall next to it, gently touching the small pieces of jewelry laying on the satin cloths.

“Jewelry for your lover perhaps?” The elderly lady said simply, showing you an array of intricately designed men’s rings.

You looked over at The Master who was still waiting for the food he had ordered and turned back to the lady, “I don’t think he’s the jewelry wearing type,”

“Something to remember you by perhaps?” She tried again, your eyes narrowed at her grinning face.

You felt the tightening in your chest for a moment before again shaking your head, “Nah, I think he’ll be sick of me leaving remnants around his ship. Turning it too feminine he says,” You rolled your eyes and picked up a necklace, your thumb tracing over the feathers.

The elderly lady laughed, “Perhaps you’re going to need something to remember him by,” She picked up a small round dome and held it out for you, “Take this with my regards,”

She placed it in your hand, and a type of warmth ran up your arm making you flinch away from her, “Its okay. Just keep this on you. Fill it with all the memories you can,“Her face darkened, "Because you’re going to need it,”

You swallowed deeply and eyed the ball in your hand, a sense of uneasiness coming over you.

You felt his presence behind you, his hand going to rest on your lower back, “Problem?” He asked simply, his eyes narrowing at the woman.

“None at all,” The woman stated, “Just showing the lovely pieces I got from Galaxy 12,”

He looked down at you, noticing you were still holding the ball and grabbed it from your hand, “Where did you get this?”

“The lady gave it to me. Something about memories,”

He nodded, twirling the ball between his fingers, “A type of memory ball. Different types come from different cultures. Some dangerous, some not,”

“This one?” You nodded, eyeing the purple smoke that was glowing inside it.

“A child’s toy,” He handed it back to you and you placed it in your pocket, the warmth still seeping in your skin.

He grabbed your hand and continued to make your way through the marketplace, “You need to be careful with places like this. Very dangerous to wander off on your own if you don’t know what you’re doing,”

You shrugged your shoulders, “You forget that I traveled with The Doctor. Pretty sure dangerous is her middle name. Not to mention travelling with you,”

“I’m trying to keep you safe,” He turned to you, his brown eyes meeting yours. His fingers were still laced with your own, making a small smile cross your face.

“Who’d have thought. The big bad Master falling in love with the human,” You joked.

He gave a tight smile, “You’re not just any human though are you?”

You opened your mouth to say something, but were abruptly cut off by The Master dragging you back towards the TARDIS.  
"Come on, it’s getting late,”

On the porch, there sat the creature you were patting earlier, “Oh this is fate,” You laughed as you jogged up to the door, kneeling down to pat the creature, the Jerkinite moving to you and purring as it once again began to wrap around your hands and climb into your lap, “Please? Can we keep him? He’s so sweet,”

The Master walked up to you with a roll of his eyes, “No,”  
“Please?”

“No,”

You picked it up and it began to purr louder, “Oh come on. He’s a sweetheart,”

The Master placed his hands in his pockets and watched you, feeling the joy through the bond. He let out a sigh and moved past you, unlocking the front door, “Do you even know what they eat?”

“Cat food?” You offered, picking it up and following The Master into the TARDIS. You noticed that The Master had realized that you had taken the creature in but didn’t say anything to deter you. A grin overcame your face at the realization that he was only allowing this because it made you happy. Your heart fluttered at the thought of him putting aside his own annoyances for you.

The Master watched as you sat on the couch, the creature curling up into a ball on your lap, “Something much larger than cat food. Think whole creatures,”

You scratched behind it’s floppy ears, “Well then, I suppose we should find it some food then,” You looked up at your soulmate, “What should we name him?”

“No. What should you name him. I’m completely opposed to it being here,” The Master flicked a few switches before the TARDIS was back in flight.

“He looks like a Jeremy,” You stated simply.

The Master turned to you, a dry look on his face, “Jeremy?” He moved closer to you, “You want to name one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe Jeremy,”

“Yes,”.

He fell into the couch next to you, “Its a stupid name,”

“So is The Master but somehow you’ve made that work for ya,” You countered, ignoring the surge of annoyance through the bond.

With a roll of his eyes, The Master stood up and made his way out of the console room, leaving you and Jeremy on the couch together.

<->

You sat calmly across from him, your legs crossed with your elbows resting on your knees. In all the years that you had known The Master, never once had you seen him look so lost, so dejected. His hair had fallen in front of his face, his eyes downtrodden, his jaw clenching. Through the bond, you could feel the raw pain and anguish. You could feel the sheer need to scream and yell and throw things, but for your sake, he was sitting seemingly calm across from you. 

It had started hours earlier, while you were sitting on the couch petting the new member of your group feeding it small pieces of Earth meat from your hand, you had felt an indescribable pain in your chest. It made you knees buckle and the breath leave your chest.   
You rushed down the corridor to The Master’s room to see him throwing things around, his voice going hoarse from yelling. It wasn’t until you called his name and wrapped your arms around him did he finally stop. Falling to his knees in anguish. 

He told you that everything he knew about his life was a lie, everything he once believed in was a lie.   
That you were the only thing that he believed in anymore.

“You were the only thing that kept me going,” He began, making your heart clench in pain; “There were times when I couldn’t do it anymore, I didn’t want to feel like this anymore; but sometimes I would feel you trickle through the bond. I don’t know how, but sometimes I would feel such a pure happiness come from you that it made me keep going. It was enough to keep me hanging on,”

Cautiously, you reached forward and gently grabbed his hand, turning it upwards and lacing your fingers through his lager ones; “Sometimes,” You began carefully, swallowing deeply, “Growing up. Sometimes I’d feel such a profound sadness, an unnatural sadness. It was like this-this hollowness that I couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard I tried,” Your eyes met his brown eyes, unshed tears filling the dark orbs; “Was that you?” You whispered, looking back down at your entwined hand.

“I’m sorry,” He croaked out, two stray tears falling down his cheeks, “I never wanted-” He looked away, moving his hand to quickly remove the tears, “In this whole universe, you were the one person I didn’t want to hurt. Not ever,”

Biting your lip, you wondered how you could phrase this next part. How to make him see that somewhere, deep inside, that there was something good there; “The incarnations of you I met, even when I first met you, you put me through some horrible things,” You watched as he clenched his eyes shut, as if he was trying to ignore what you were saying, “But you never once harmed me. You never once allowed me to be harmed. He loved me in a way like he already knew me even though it was my first time meeting him,” You moved your face so his eyes would meet yours, “He knew me before I knew him,” You reached up and caressed his face, watching as his face relaxed and moved into your hand, “He knew me from you,” A small smile crossed your lips, “He loved me because you loved me,” You watched as he moved his face further into your hand, like a child needing his mother’s comfort.

He gave a nod and another tear fell down his cheeks, he pressed his lips against the inside of your palm, cautiously, as if he was expecting you to be horrified by the thought. Horrified to know that this heartless and soulless monster was in love with the human.

“Look at me,” You whispered, moving your thumb to wipe away his tears. His brown eyes met yours, “You’re my soulmate. Two sides of the same coin,” You rested your head against his, “I love you. My Master,” You whispered.  
He let out a small whimper before moving forward and roughly pressing his lips against yours. You felt him grip your cheeks before running his hands to your neck and gripping on to the back of your hair, like he needed something to ground him, something to remind him that you were there.

You pushed forward and deepened the kiss, moaning slightly when he followed suit. Your hands ran down his dark blue dress shirt, fingers lightly touching his buttons before resting on the bottom one and unbuttoning it.  
He let out a small growl before pushing you on to your back, his hair falling into his face and his brown eyes watching you carefully, “Do you mean it?” He asked quietly.

“I love you,” You replied equally soft, but just as reassuring.

He pressed his lips to yours once again, gentle hands removing the layers between you until you both had become a single soul.


	5. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Space Station, The Doctor, creatures, and the need to blow things up.
> 
> *Mentions of Suicide*

The TARDIS landed with a loud thud, making you fall backwards, The Master reaching out to try and catch you, but not reaching you in time. Jeremy, the resident TARDIS pet you had acquired, ran over to you. You scratched behind his ears before taking your lover’s hand and allowing him to pull you up.  
“Maybe not so hard next time?” You offered as you dusted off your pants and brushed the dirt off your hands.

The Master walked over to the door, “Well perhaps your precious Doctor needs to find a better place for a catch up,”

You grinned and bounced on your feet behind him, “Hold down the fort Jeremy,” You called out to the creature who was sitting lazily on the couch.

You could feel The Master roll his eyes through the bond, another smile crossed your face. He may pretend not to like the creature you had brought on board, but you have caught him on numerous occasions allowing it to sleep on his lap or absently petting it’s head.

Not that he would openly admit it.

“Oh I can’t wait to see them again,” You smiled, pushing past The Master and finding yourself on a large space station, “Huh, not exactly where I thought we would end up. Where are we?”

The Master came to stand next to you, “71st Century. Parliament house,” He said simply, looking up at the destroyed console, “I thought it would look nicer then this,”

“Looks like someone’s trashed the place,” You commented, watching as your partner flicked a few switches, “Dead?”

“Yep,”

You continued to look around, the darkness of the room sending a small chill down your spine. You kicked a few of the broken machines that were scattered around the place and turned back to The Master, “I wonder what happened here?”

The Master looked over his shoulder at you, “Whatever happened, doesn’t seem like anyone’s here,”

The familiar groaning sound made you both turn around, you with a large grin on your face and The Master feigning nonchalance as he continued to play around with the console.

The blue phone box appeared in front of you and the familiar blonde woman stepped out, “I’ve missed you,”

You let out a loud chuckle and embraced the Time Lady who had whispered, “He hasn’t hurt you has he? I don’t think he would, but he’s unstable and I can’t be 100% sure,”

You stepped back and shook your head, “No. We’ve-we understand each other more now,” You stated simply, ignoring the scoff coming from the Time Lord behind you. You moved away and watched as Yasmin, Ryan and Graham all stepped out behind her, each one embracing you harder then the last.

“So now that we’re all here, why did you call us?” The Master said, coming to stand next to you.

The Doctor looked between you both, noticing the closeness and slight possessiveness The Master had over you, “Something’s happened. Or it’s happening. I don’t know. But everything is in danger and I’ve located its origin to here and now,”

The Master shrugged his shoulders, “Why does this concern me?”

“I need your help,” She replied, her brown eyes meeting his.

The Time Lord shook his head, “You’ve saved the universe before without my help,”

You reached down and laced your fingers with his, making him look down and look back at you. You both seemed to be having a silent conversation, you silently begging him to help. You could see the conflict behind his eyes, it wasn’t in his nature to help save something, his nature was chaos and destruction.  
Letting out an annoyed sigh, he turned back to The Doctor, “Fine. What is it?”

<->

To say that The Master wan’t happy about there being a bio weapon on board the ship and it having wiped out all life on board before you had arrived was an understatement.

To say that he was pissed that you chose to go with Graham instead of staying by his side was an even bigger understatement. You could feel it in the bond, his annoyance, his anger at you choosing to leave his side,of you choosing to leave the safety of his side so you could hunt down some clues on what had happened on board made him even more frustrated.

Graham followed slightly behind you, leaving you to man the torch and to lead the way. It was like you had done this a thousand times before, ducking and weaving under and around exposed wires and broken pieces of the station scattered around your feet and head.

“So…” Graham started, ducking under the overhanging wires, “You and The Master then?”

You turned back to look at him before facing forward, “Its a very long and very complicated story that one,”

“So is everything when travelling with The Doctor”

You shrugged a shoulder, “That’s a fair point actually,”. You gave a small sigh, stopping for a moment for Graham to catch up.

“It started when I was a teenager. I would get these brain splitting headaches. Of course my parents and doctors would put it down to stress, or my period, some even said it was psychosomatic,” You glanced over at him to see he was still listening, “I ended up at the Royal Hope Hospital around the same time it was transported to the moon,”

“I remember that,”

“There I met The Doctor. Told him about my headaches, thought I was a medical anomaly but ended up letting me travel with him anyway. Then I saw Harold Saxon for the first time and it was like my brain was splitting in half. He was a Time Lord, he did some awful things, but one thing The Doctor explained to me was that he was my soulmate. Kind of like this bond, it strengthens the longer we’re together, I can feel what he’s feeling and vice versa. It was the reason why I was getting the headaches, The Master was-is- mad. He had this drumming in his head and that’s what was causing my headaches,“

Graham nodded but you could see he wasn’t really following, "So you and him are…”

“I don’t know,” You shrugged, “I love him. I know that much,” You pointed the torch down to where a row of named lockers were, “In here,” You let out a small sigh, “I love him, but being with him, it’s like fire and heartbreak and pain; but at the same time it’s like I can’t be without him. Like I physically need him to live,”

“That doesn’t sound healthy,” Graham commented.

You shook your head, “I sometimes wonder if it is. If it’s worth it. And then I see him doing something like he’s doing now, saving something, and I realize that maybe there’s something good in there after all,”

You moved quickly into the room, pulling open the doors and grabbing the necessary items, smiling at the tiny vacuumed sealed suits, “I love modern tech,” You stated, holding up what looked like small zip loc bags filled with clothing. You reached in and grabbed what looked like a tape recorder, flipping it over in your hands a few times.

“What’s that?” Graham asked, coming up behind you and looking over your shoulder.

You shrugged, “I dunno. Looks like a tape recorder,” You stated, looking at the buttons on the top, “Either way, we’ll take it back to The Doctor, see what it is,”

You passed him over a few of the bags and closed the locker again. You head the sound of scuttling come from above you and quickly raised your flashlight to see what it was, upon seeing nothing, you looked back at the older man, seeing that he was as spooked as you were, “Lets get back. I have a strange feeling that we’re not alone here,”

<->

You both walked back into the common area, watching The Master and The Doctor arguing over how to deal with the problem. You could see frustration on both their faces, and the two other humans in the room looking exasperated at the scene in front of them.

“Oi,” You stepped forward, looking at your lover and your friend, “We found this. It was in the lockers,” You handed The Doctor the device and set down the bags, “We also found space suits, just in case. What is it?” You came to stand by The Doctor, looking over her shoulder as she toyed with the device in her hand.

“It’s a hologram. Kind of like a Captain’s log. Let’s see what it says shall we?” The Doctor smiled as she pointed her screwdriver at it, a blue figure coming to stand in the middle of the room. You could see The Master through the figure, staring at it intently.

“It’s day 45. Food’s running out. Hendricks and Maya got taken by those creatures, whatever they were,” The hologram ran a hand down their face, “I don’t-I don’t know how long we’ve got. I’ve tried to send an SOS but they cut down all our lines of communication. If these creatures get a hand on what we have on board this ship it could mean the end of everything,” The hologram abruptly cut out, leaving an eeary silence in the room.

The sonic screwdriver was activated and the hologram reappeared, this time the man looked more tired, more drawn. The defeat was evident in his eyes.  
“Day 70. I-I’m tired. I haven’t slept in two days. There’s no food, no water. Everyone’s dead,” Tears fell from their eyes, “The creatures have the bio weapon. I tried. I tried so hard, but in the end they were too strong,” The man picked up a pistol, “If you’re seeing this, I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry, but we’re all dead,” He placed the gun in his mouth and fired, making you jump and your eyes well up with tears.

<->

It didn’t take long for the creatures hiding in the darkness to make their presence known, earning you being pulled down the darkened hallway by your leg, leaving the wrath of The Master to everyone in the room. When he told you that he had burned millions for you, the anger in his eyes when he found you told you that the stories were true.

He’d tear down a universe for you.

So now you were stuck by his side instead of helping The Doctor and the other’s fight whatever monsters were in the dark. The only idea any of you had to wipe out the bio weapon and the monsters was one large explosion, wiping out the entire station and everything on it.

The Doctor asked The Master, since destruction was his area of expertise.

You were biting your thumb nail, arms crossed over your chest, watching as The Master sat on the grated floor by your feet, murmuring angrily to himself as he twisted and pulled wires out of the small compartment.

You knew that he didn’t want to be here, he didn’t want to be helping The Doctor and her companions, he didn’t want to be helping save the universe, but he was.

Biting on your lip, you placed your hands in your back pockets, “Ya know, we could leave right?” You said quietly, watching as his back tensed and he slowly turned his head to face you, “We could dump all this right now, head back to the TARDIS. Leave The Doctor and everyone else to sort it out like they always do,” You let out the breath you were longing as The Master shifted to get comfortable, facing you fully now, curiosity crossing his face, “Just float in space. The two of us,”

A small smile crossed his face as he let out a huff, shaking his head and grabbing your hand, pulling you down to eye level; “You’d never forgive yourself if you did that,”

“But you could always say that we’re leaving,” You retorted simply, swallowing deeply, “And I would follow you. I’ll always follow you,”

His hand came up and rested on your cheek, his lips moving forward to press on your forehead, “What? And leave the possibility of your friends to die?” He shook his head, “Like I said, you’d never forgive yourself if anything happened that you could have prevented,” He turned back around to face what he was doing, “See that black wire in the back there, can you reach in and pull it out? My hands are too big,”

You bent down next to him and reached in, your hand weaving in and out of the wires trying to grip the one he was describing to you. You could feel his eyes on you, watching you with a soft smile on his face. You could feel the adoration through the bond, the feeling of wanting nothing more then to hold you to him the way that he did the previous night.

“I think I’ve got it,” You stated, giving it a hard yank and pulling it out, “Genius,” You joked as The Master bent back down and began twisting the wires together.

You sat down next to him and watching his face, seeing the determination in his eyes, “You’re only doing this for me aren’t you?”

He gave a small sigh and turned to face you, “I’d do anything you asked of me if it means that you’re happy,” He said simply before turning around and continuing on his project.

“I love you,” You said simply, watching the smile cross his face, the happiness through the bond.

“I know you do,” He replied, standing up and making his way over to the next large console, pulling out the underside and pulling out all the wires again.

He stopped what he was doing for a moment before looking over at you, “After this, how about we go to that planet we were talking about? The one with the hot ice pools? I’ll drop you off, pick you up after a few hours,” He stated simply.

You shrugged your shoulders, “But I’ll be bored without you there,” You retorted, “How about we go to that forest you were talking about? That one that has the universes largest trees,”

“Make some new memories,” The Master said, his voice was quiet as he turned back to the console. You felt a dash of sadness through the bond but chose to ignore it, instead moving over to the large glass window that looked over the planet below.

The yellow and green swirls covered the atmosphere, the moons lazily floating around it. Your hand pressed against the glass, watching the the clouds move around the plant, “It’s so beautiful up here,” You stated, turning back to The Master who was still working on the final console.

There was a quietness in the room that seemed to unease you and made you turn away from the window. , “So what’s the plan anyway? Blow up everything on the ship and run away?”

A slightly manic grin came over The Master’s face, holding up the tape recorder you had found hours earlier, except it now had many wires sticking out of it, “It had radioactive substances in it, I’m using it to create a bomb. I’ll need a few more if we’re to wipe out the whole station so The Doctor and her groupies have gone off to find some more,” He explained, watching as you came over and crouched down next to him.

“Destruction and chaos. Your two favorite things,” You joked.

He gave a small shrug, “I only have three,” He placed the bomb back on the ground and continued wiring it, “You’re my first favorite,” He stated simply, leaving you with a large grin on your face.

“After this, I’ll take you home if you’d like?” He said suddenly, leaving your eyebrows to furrow in confusion, “You know, since you’ve been bugging me about it,”

You let out a small chuckle, “I haven’t asked you about Earth in months. Besides, you hate it there. And I like it here, with you,” 

Another pang of sadness came through the bond, leaving your heart aching slightly, “That’s the second time I’ve felt your sadness today. What’s wrong?” 

The Master froze for barely a split second, but you still saw it, “Nothing’s wrong. I just hate the fact that I’m here doing this for someone I barely even like,” 

“You liar. I know you like The Doctor in your own strange way,” 

He looked up at you, “I like her because she keeps bringing me you,” He turned back, “Not for any other reason,”

You shook your head, “No, it’s something else that’s the matter. Something deeper,” You moved close to him, “Please tell me,” 

You watched as his jaw clenched a few times before pointing to his TARDIS, “Go in there, under the console there’s a tiny white rock attached by yellow wires. Can you grab that for me?”

“What’s it for?” 

“To make the explosion bigger. If we’re going to make an explosion, then we better make it a good one,”


	6. Rewrite The Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Final Goodbye?

The smell of mint flooded your senses as you slowly opened your eyes, your muscles ached in a fresh new way they hadn’t before. You mentally noted the feeling of underwear, but the top half of your body was completely bare.  
You turned your head, a small smile crossing your face as you saw the familiar brown eyes of your soulmate staring back at you.  
“You’re so beautiful when you sleep,” He whispered as he brushed some hair from your face, a small smile crossing his face.  
Self consciously, You moved the blanket further up your body, pausing when his hand touched yours, “Don’t do that,” His eyes searched yiur face, “There’s no need to be self conscious around me. I love you for every bit that you are,”

You moved further into the blankets, a smile on your face as your eyes slowly drifted closed again. 

You felt his lips press against your shoulder, sending goosebumps across your body. A small sigh escaped your lips as you felt his lips turn upwards before kissing your shoulder once again. You turned your head to face him, laying stomach down in the bed with a blanket covering your lower body.  
His fingers glided across your upper back, his fingers moving to slide your top strap down your arm. A shiver ran up your spine as his fingers continued to dance across your shoulders. Your eyes opened to see his chestnut ones staring at you, his mind clearly lost in thought.

“What are you thinking about?” You whispered, watching as his eyes changed, finally looking at you.

“How incredible you are,” He offered, pressing his lips to your shoulder once again.

A small smile graced your face as you closed your eyes once again, “Liar,” You reviled in the feeling of his hands, how something so gentle with you caused the death of millions by them, “You know you can talk to me right?”

His hands froze and you wondered if you had said the wrong thing, but they resumed their aimless tracing soon after, “ I’m thousands of years old, I’ve seen so much,” You could feel his breath on your skin, “It feels like you’re the only thing that’s real anymore,”

You opened your eyes and looked at him, your hand reaching up to grip his own, “I’m here. Always,”

His hand unlocked with yours as he pushed some hair from your face, “I know. And I’m eternally grateful for you,” his hand moves down your face, his thumb coming to rest on your bottom lip, slowly swiping it across.

You pressed a kiss to the pad of his thumb and sat up, allowing the blanket to pool around your waist. You could feel the confusion coming through the bond, as you faced him, “I meant it though. I love you,”

He sat up, his bare chest exposed for you to see. You had the overwhelming urge to run your hands through his chest hair once again, to wrap your hands behind his neck as he kissed you deeply.  
“I love you too,”

<->

You head was swirling as you listened to the argument between The Master and The Doctor.

You could hear The Master argue with her, telling her that there was no way to activate the detonator from the TARDIS. Their voices sounded like they were underwater, you felt a hand on your upper arm and you looked back at Ryan who was gently holding you back.

You shrugged him off as the first tears fell from your eyes. You stepped forward and came to stand in front of The Master, his eyes showing a sadness and a regret that you had never seen before.  
”Wh-What are you talking about? There’s no way to detonate this off world? Make it so you can. You’re both smart enough,” You stated, watching as he slowly shook his head in response. 

”You don’t think I haven’t tried? You think that this is how I thought I would die?” He rolled his eyes but stared back down at you, “It’s going to be okay. The Doctor said she’s going to take you back to Earth,”

You shook your head, “N-no. No! I’m not going back to Earth. We’re going to that stupid planet you keep talking about,” 

He reached down and gripped your face, forcing you to look at him. Weakly, you finished, “You promised me,” 

”I made a bigger promise. To myself. That I would never let you get hurt. And if these creatures leave this ship that’s exactly what would happen,” 

“Please don’t do this. I’m begging you, please no,” You found yourself sobbing as The Master reached over and caressed your cheek the same way you did to him all those months ago, “We can find another way,” You turned back to The Doctor who was looking at you with sad eyes, she shook her head and you tightly closed your eyes, shaking your head, “No. No. I can’t lose you. Not after everything,”

A sad smile crossed his face as his brown eyes bored into you, memorizing every inch of your face, every flaw, every perfection; he wanted to remember you. He didn’t do this decision lightly, but he knew that if even a tiny bit of that weapon or those creatures got off this world then it would be over for you. He didn’t want a life if it meant knowing that you had died from something he could have prevented.

His thumbs rubbed circles on your cheekbones, wiping away your tears “It’s okay,” He whispered to you, “It’s not over for us. I’ll see you again,” His forehead found yours and he closed his eyes, “I’ll see you again and I will love you for all eternity,”

“But I won’t see you again,” You continued to cry, tears falling harder and harder down your cheeks, his thumbs unable to catch them all, “I can’t-” You choked back another sob, “I can’t be without you,”  
You saw tears in his own eyes, a smile crossing his face, “Look after that stupid creature won’t you?” He whispered to you, “Don’t forget, if you end up back on Earth, there might be a few of your neighbors animals going missing,” He smiled as you let out a choked laugh, remembering the conversation you both had a few nights earlier regarding your new pet and life on Earth.

“I love you,”

The Master allowed the tears to fall before pressing a kiss to your forehead, his lips lingering before he reluctantly detached himself, “I love you. Never forget that,” His eyes looked over at The Doctor before giving her a small nod.  
He pressed his lips against yours before painfully gripping your shoulders and pushing you back into the arms of your friends.

You felt Ryan and Graham’s arms holding you back as you struggled against them. The Doctor turned to face you before helping the others get you back inside her TARDIS. The last look you got of The Master was of his sad eyes watching as you kicked and screamed for him to let you stay, for him not to do this.

The TARDIS doors were locked when The Doctor put the machine into flight. You could feel the eyes of the others watching you as you fell to the ground, tears falling uncontrollably down your face, “Please take me back,” You whispered brokenly to them.

“I’m sorry I can’t. Despite everything, I won’t break my last promise to him,” The Doctor stated, flicking several buttons on the console.

You felt a sharp pain in your chest, a hollowness that you had only felt once before. You began to cry harder as the pain grew. You knew by the look on The Doctor’s face that she knew what was happening, “I’m sorry,” She said sadly, knowing that The Master had destroyed the space station with himself inside.

The unbearable pain was the feeling of the bond snapping and breaking. Something that only happened when he died. You had felt it only once before when Missy had died, even then it wasn’t the full extent of the pain since then you weren’t mourning a close lover, but a friend.  
Now however, you were mourning the loss of your soulmate.

“Is she going to be okay?” You heard Yaz ask, watching you from afar with worry on her face.

“Not for a long time,” The Doctor replied, “Imagine losing Grace. That pain,” She turned to Graham, “Now imagine that, but with a physical bond as well. They could feel each other, always,” The Doctor looked over at you, “Now she can’t. It’s going to take a while for that empty feeling to go away,”

You stood up with wobbly legs, walking up to where The Doctor was watching you with sad eyes, “Take me back,” You stated sadly, tears falling from your cheeks.

“I can’t-” The Doctor began, flinching when you slapped the console of the TARDIS.

“Then what is the bloody point of you then?! What’s the point of having a time machine if you can’t use it when it actually matters!”

The Doctor stepped forward, placing her hands on either side of your cheeks, her own eyes welling with tears, “You know why. You’ve always known why. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry that we can’t go back. You know that I would if I could,” She pulled your into her chest, allowing you to grip tightly on to the back of her shirt and sob loudly.

“I can’t live without him,”

She pulled back from you and gripped either one of your cheeks, “Yes you can. You wont forget him, you wont ever stop loving him, but I promise you that you will be able to live. Do so in his memory. Do it in knowing its what he wanted you to do,”

<->

You fell into the bed, your head resting on the pillow as more tears came down your cheeks. What were you meant to do now? How were you meant to live the rest of your life knowing that once upon a time, you were loved so fully and so wholly that there was a chance you would never feel that again?

How could you be happy when he was gone?

You winced slightly when you rolled on to your side, something digging into your pants pockets. You reached in and pulled out the familiar glass ball, the same one you had received in the market months ago.  
You rolled it around your hand a few times, wondering how to make the memories work, you needed to see his face again. You needed to hear his voice.

When nothing happened, you threw it across the room, more tears falling down your cheeks. You were so hurt and so angry you pulled at your hair slightly, letting out a scream of frustration.

“I don’t know when you’re going to hear this, or find this. You’re asleep at the moment, that stupid creature curled up on your chest. I have no idea why I let you keep it. Maybe it’s because it makes you happy. You deserve the type of happiness that you have given me,”

You sat up on the bed, watching the hologram in front of you with watery eyes. There stood The Master, a pair of tan slacks, a light blue shirt, the familiar sparkle in his eyes. He was completely see through however, reminding you that he wasn’t really here.

The tears stopped while you watched the smile on his face, your own watery smile growing on your lips as you listened to him speak.

“Either way, if anything happens to you, I’m throwing that thing right out the airlock. No if’s and’s or but’s. So you better stay safe. For his sake,” A chuckle left your lips.

“I love you. More then anything in this universe. There’s nothing I want more then to spend every morning waking up with you, to listen to your stupid human idiocy’s. For all the horrible things I’ve ever done, the universe gave me one good thing. It’s you. I will love you every day, for the rest of my life. I promise you that,”

A small smile on his lips and the picture vanished, leaving you with more tears falling from your cheeks. A small reow came from the bottom of the bed where the glass orb sat.

You made your way down and saw the familiar cream colored creature sitting on the floor with confusion, “Jeremy, how’d you get here?” You sobbed, picking up the creature and cuddling him to your chest.

“The Master must have known that he wasn’t coming back,” You heard from the doorway.

You turned your head to see The Doctor leaning there, watching you with a serious look on her face. You turned back to Jeremy who was now purring in your lap, “How’d you know that?”

“Because he sent you your pet. He recorded you a message and snuck it in your pocket,” She moved further into your room, “Because he loved you and he knew that if you were to survive he couldn’t,”

The Doctor came to sit on the bed next to you, allowing you to place your head on her shoulder as you silently cried, “I miss him,”

“I know,”

“What will happen to his TARDIS?”

The Doctor shrugged, “I assume it was destroyed when he destroyed the station. If not, it might be floating around space somewhere. No one can get in it so I wouldn’t stress to much,”

“He could have regenerated,” You offered weakly.

The Doctor stroked your hair, “Do you think so?”

“No,” Not after feeling what you felt through the bond. Now it felt like pure emptiness, like everything was pulled out of your body leaving you hallow. You couldn’t feel anything other then sadness, a thrumming pain in your chest only amplified the feeling.

“I’ll take you back to Earth in a few days. You need some rest,”

You nodded, “Yeah,” You said simply, staring at the spot where the hologram once was.


End file.
